


Poison

by NYWCgirl



Series: writer's month 2020 [23]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Food Poisoning, Gen, Hallucinations, Hurt/Comfort, Poisoning, Sickfic, ergot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:20:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26064118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NYWCgirl/pseuds/NYWCgirl
Summary: When they are on their way back from an op, Mac gets sick. Jack does his best to be there for his teammate.
Series: writer's month 2020 [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1861096
Comments: 6
Kudos: 31





	Poison

Mac lets himself fall on the couch in the jet. He is exhausted. He can hear one of the crew members close the door behind them and going into the cockpit.

‘Lay down Mac.’

Mac opens his eyes and can see a worried Jack.

‘I’m fine, just tired.’

‘I know, we have been burning the candle on both sides, so rest. We have a couple of hours before we’re home. So get some shut eye.’

‘Yeah good idea.’

Mac closes his eyes when a bout of nausea waves over him. When was the last time he ate properly? Yesterday probably, when they got some bread and cheese from some local farmer.

‘Do we have some power bars on board?’ Mac asks without opening his eyes.

‘We’ve got something better, the exfil team brought donuts.’

Mac’s nausea increases and when he opens his eyes, he can see Jack showing a pink donut with sprinkles in his mouth. In his hand is a box with an assortment of donuts. His stomach rebels and Mac staggers to his feet and hauls himself to the bathroom?. He barely makes it before he starts dry heaving. There is nothing in his stomach to throw up except bile.

‘Mac? You alright?’

‘Yeah, give me a minute.’

Mac opens the tab and lets water run in his hands and splashes it in his face. When he straightens, he jumps. He turns around to fight but there is no one. He could have sworn Murdoc was standing behind him.

‘Mac?’

‘Yeah, coming.’

He leaves the toilet and glares at Jack who stands just outside the door but lets him through. Mac staggers back on the couch and lets himself fall back onto it.

‘You OK, buddy?’

‘Yeah, tired and a bit nauseated.’

‘Sorry about the donuts, man.’

‘That’s OK.’

‘Rest.’

Jack can see it doesn´t take Mac long to fall asleep. He covers him with a blanket before taking one himself and sitting next to Mac in the chair and letting himself drift off.

* * *

Jack wakes to Mac tossing and turning on the small couch. A low keening sound escapes him and his brow is drawn like he is pain.

‘Mac, wake up kid, What’s wrong?’

It takes a moment before Mac’s eyes snap open and they fill with fear. He tries to scoot back, but in the jet, there isn´t much space and he quickly hits the wall of the cabin. I’m not going back!’

‘Mac, calm down. You are safe.’

Mac is curled into himself but is scratching himself.

‘Mac, tell me what’s going on?’

‘Stay away. I’m not going back.’

Jack picks up the phone they have in the jet and asks to be patched through with medical .

‘ _Hey Jack, what’s going on?’_

‘Mac is acting weird, he appears to be hallucinating or in any case he doesn´t recognize me.’

_‘Was he exposed to something?’_

‘Not that I have seen.’

_‘Are there any other symptoms?’_

‘He complained of feeling tired and he was hungry but when I offered him food, he started vomiting. He then laid down again and when I woke him because he was moaning and looked uncomfortable. When he woke he didn´t recognize me. Do you think he is poisoned?’

_‘He could be, there is no telling without a tox screen. It could be drug related, an illness.’_

‘He is also scratching himself.’

_‘Hmm, I want you to try and get him to drink water, as much as possible, hopefully it will flush whatever is in his system._

Mac is squinting like he has the mother of all headaches.

‘I’m putting you on speaker phone.’

_‘Hey Mac, this is doc Carl. Jack tells me that you are not feeling well.’_

Jack has taken a bottle of water and tries to coax it into Mac. But Mac isn’t having it and tries to get away from Jack. When he scrambles towards the back of the plane, Jack intervenes. If Mac somehow manages to open the door mid-flight, well…

‘Mac, you need to come and lay down, OK? You’re not feeling well.’

‘I’m not going back. You can’t make me.’

‘You’re not. You are safe here with me. We are on our way back home, kid.’

‘No, no, you…’

‘I am what, Mac?’

He can see Mac’s eyes roam over the plane’s interior and the rest on the door.

‘No Mac, we are mid-flight, you can’t open the door. Do you hear me!’

‘I won’t let you take me.’

Mac’s eyes get something wild.

_‘Jack, take me of speaker phone.’_

Jack does a s requested.

‘What’s up doc?’

_‘There are sedatives in pre-filled syringes in the med pack. If Mac becomes a danger to himself or anyone else, sedate him. You are two hours away according to my information.’_

‘OK, I will keep that in mind as a back-up.’

Jack puts the phone back on speaker in case he needs both hands free.

‘Mac, come on kid, look at me, It’s Jack.’

‘Stay away from me.’

‘Only if you stay away from the door. I can’t let you open it.’

Mac starts to get even more rest less and Jack starts to worry that he is going to need the sedative after all.

‘Mac, get away from the door, I don’t want to hurt you.’

And then out of nowhere Mac’s eyes clear.

‘Jack?’

Jack lets out a breath.

‘Oh Mac, come here.’

Jack pulls Mac in a bear hug and Mac seems to melt into the touch. He doesn´t realize something is about to go very wrong until Mac’s body stiffens in his grip.

‘Doc!’ Jack calls out, ‘he’s seizing.’

 _‘Put him down where he can’t hurt himself.’_ doc Carl commands.

Jack gently lays Mac in the alley and puts the phone on speaker.

_‘Jack, do you have the med pack out?’_

‘Yeah, it’s right here.’

_‘OK, in the top right pocket, there should be a nasal spray with Diazepam. Did Mac consume any opioid medicines or alcohol?’_

‘No. How do you use the spray?’

‘ _It’s given in the nose and it is ready to use. It is a single dose, so don’t test it.’_

Jack administers the dose and Mac stills.

‘Now, put him in recovery position, just in case.’

Jack manhandles Mac in the small space between the seats until Mac is on his side.

‘Is there anything I need to watch out for?’

‘You should watch his breathing. Now when Mac wakes, he may have nose discomfort and a headache and may feel drowsy.’

* * *

‘How are you feeling, Mac?’

‘OK, I guess, stiff, a slight headache.’

‘I will give you something for the headache. We did some research and we think we know what caused your symptoms, ergot poisoning.’

‘Ergot poisoning?’

‘Yes, we suspect you must have eaten it. Did you eat any local bread?’

Mac nods.

‘If the ergot bodies aren’t removed from the grains before making bread…’

‘So it was an accident?’

‘Yes, this isn´t a reliable method to poison someone, so yes, we think it happened by accident.’

‘It makes sense because I only ate some sort of apple pie because I didn´t like the cheese that went with the bread.’ Jack says.

‘We will be monitoring you, but we expect there won’t be any long lasting effects.’

‘So, I can go home?’

‘Yes, I will give you a list with symptoms to keep a look out for.


End file.
